Current ink jet printing systems consist of a fluid system supporting one or more printheads. Typical ink jet printheads operate by forcing fluid through a droplet generator that contains an array of orifices, forming droplets of ink. The type of ink used in the printhead is important; the type of ink used will enhance overall reliability of the system or cause the printhead to fail.
In continuous ink jet printing systems, ink parameters are finely tuned to work in conjunction with the printhead portion of the system. The use of an ink that is not certified to work with a particular system can adversely affect the quality of printing, the frequency of print systems errors, and/or the longevity of print system components.
Since a printhead may be considered a high cost consumable element in the printing system, it is often warranted by the manufacturer to meet certain reliability criteria and, therefore, the manufacturer often ends up absorbing the large cost of a customer's use of non-approved ink in a print system. This is an expense that manufactures desire to avoid.
Typically, the customer purchases the system with the agreement that the customer must use approved ink. For various reason (i.e., low cost, better short term performance at the expense of reduced printhead life, availability of a specific color, and the like) a customer may be tempted to use non-approved ink.
A need exists for a method to track the consumption of ink or other fluids by an ink jet printing system. If non-approved ink is being used by the customer, a need exists for a method to let the manufacturer know that the conditions of the warranty have been violated.
Hillmann U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,312 discloses a technique for tracking the use of replaceable ink reservoirs, toner cartridges, and ribbon cassettes by permanently modifying the electronic memory associated with these devices. A drop counting technique is used to determine usage and misusage of ink.
Other system for detecting ink cartridge status are known in the art, as exampled by Hilton U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,837, Lefebvre U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,715; Lee U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,669. The prior art listed herein is hereby incorporated by reference.
A need exists for a method that allows the customer to continue to operate while alerting the printhead manufacturer that non-approved ink is being used.
The embodied methods herein are designed to meet these needs.